laura23

There’s no real “matching” process. Professors generally choose the students they want to admit. If they aren’t accepting a clinical student it’s usually because 1) clinical admissions has a strict limit and they don’t have priority to take student this year, or 2) they want experimental students because clinical students have more courses/less time for research.

I’ve done some research on this and from what I’ve read, it’s pretty difficult and sometimes impossible to become licensed with a foreign degree. It’s generally recommended to do your graduate training in the country where you want to work. The only exception is Canada since the programs are very similar and the APA and CPA have a mutual recognition agreement acknowledging their equivalence.

Makes sense, it’s a confusing process! I think they have to say that so there’s no liability on the rare occasion when someone does poorly or isn’t a good fit to continue onto the PhD. Otherwise it’s more of formality at most schools.

You very well could be right about U of Alberta. I was speaking more broadly since you mentioned Ontario. This is also a clinical-specific thing that I don’t believe extends to child/school or counselling psych. Quite a few programs mention on their websites that they don’t offer a terminal masters and only admit students that plan to continue on to their PhD, even if the province offers MA licensure. Obviously they can’t stop people from quitting, but it’s not ideal. Supervisors plan to have their students for 5+ years, and it doesn’t look great for CPA accreditation to have students dropping out before the PhD. For clinical programs specifically (does not apply to counselling, etc), admission to the PhD is basically guaranteed and expected.

At the PhD level, it is rarely an issue. The masters-level licensure could be difficult depending on the program since the MA in clinical psych in Ontario and most other provinces is not meant to be a terminal degree. You may or may not get the necessary hours and courses to be eligible for licensure during the MA, unlike a counselling or psychotherapy MA that’s meant to lead directly to practice. It’s also pretty frowned upon to enter a clinical psych program with the intention of just completing the masters, so may be better to choose a different program if that’s the plan.

I saw a tweet from someone who got the award. I assume it’s from the waitlist since they found out last week.

I’m in Canada too. It’s possible that they might not be sure about accepting new volunteers/students yet. In my university, access is still pretty limited and labs have to request permission for certain people to enter for specific reasons. I’m guessing the focus is getting things up and running and current students back in the lab before they’re able to accept new people in.

Concordia isn’t accepting GRE scores (forever, I believe).

I've decided to throw in an application to a program a week before the deadline. I wasn't planning on applying here, so I haven't contacted anyone. The department website lists the faculty members who are reviewing applications next year, so I already know that they're taking students. Is there any point in emailing now? The application does ask if we've been in contact with any faculty members, but I don't know how I would send an email this late without looking bad.

Thanks guys! I wasn't sure how it would differ from an actual interview, but your replies were very helpful! I'm glad I''m not the only one freaking out about this stuff haha As for questions being premature- I'm kind of hesitant to ask about mentoring style, lab culture, etc. at this point since I haven't applied yet and haven't been invited for an official interview or anything.

I have a skype meeting with one of my POIs coming up soon. I haven't submitted my application yet as the deadline isn't for another month, and the POI asked to Skype based on my initial email stating my interest... She hadn't even seen my CV/transcripts at that point. I assume it's just a preliminary meeting to see if our interests actually overlap, but I'm not sure what to expect or how to prepare for it. I'll make sure I'm familiar with all areas of her research. What kind of questions should I ask? A lot of the things I would normally think of asking seem kind of premature at this point. Should I stick with questions about her research? Also, do I need to dress like I would for an actual interview? I don't have any experience with things like this, so thanks in advance for any replies

Thanks guys! It seems like most other provinces require you to already be attending school or living in the province to apply to their scholarships, so that's definitely something to consider. I think I'll try to prioritize my top choices and schools outside of Ontario.

Hi, fellow Canadians I was hoping someone could shed some light on how applying for external funding affects your chances for admission. Obviously every program strongly recommends applying for tri-council funding, but how are applicants viewed if they don't? I am applying for CIHR, but the application is limited to 5 schools and I'm applying to 6-7. I'm just wondering if there's any point in applying to schools without having applied for funding there... I don't know if it'll look like I''m lazy or I don't really want to go there. I'll probably go ahead and apply to those 1-2 schools anyway, but I'm just wondering how badly it'll affect my chances.